Arnotts Packet sizes, & Conversion Q...

[cosmichobo]

G'day!

I am trying to make a recipe that my grandmother used to make... Thing
is, (as always with these things) it never tastes the same...

I'm wondering if part of the problem is in my quantities...

The recipe calls for 4 oz of butter, and 4 oz of sugar. 4 oz converts
to around 113 grams... but does 113 grams of sugar really equal 4 oz of
sugar? (and same for butter)

(I know that sounds stupid...)


Next... and what I think is my problem...

The recipe needs "1 pack of Marie Biscuits".

Today's Marie biscuits contain around 250 grams - but - is that what
they contained in the 1970's? 1980's?

I know in the early 1990's my grandmother had to adjust the amount "by a
few biscuits"... and I'm guessing Arnotts provide less now than they did
in the 70's... but can anyone confirm the packet sizes back then?


Thanks for any assistance.


cosmic

["Michael" @hotmail.com>]

Maybe if you posted the recipe someone might be able to give you better
advice on quantities.

Post by cosmichobo
G'day!
I am trying to make a recipe that my grandmother used to make... Thing
is, (as always with these things) it never tastes the same...
I'm wondering if part of the problem is in my quantities...

[cosmichobo]

Post by "Michael" @hotmail.com>
Maybe if you posted the recipe someone might be able to give you better
advice on quantities.

Post by cosmichobo
G'day!
I am trying to make a recipe that my grandmother used to make... Thing
is, (as always with these things) it never tastes the same...
I'm wondering if part of the problem is in my quantities...

You mean my nana's secret Hedgehog recipe that's been in the family for
generations?! :)


4 oz butter
4 oz sugar
2 tbl cocoa

1 egg
1 tbl milk

1 pack Marie biscuits



I have just emailed Arnotts to ask...

I thought that she took maybe 4 biscuits out of the pack... but that
doesn't seem to make sense to me, as when I make it (with a full pack),
it is too moist, suggesting I need more biscuits...

Another possibility is that I don't crush the biscuits enough... though
I'm pretty sure I've got the consistency about right...

Looking above, 4oz has a symmetry to it... So back to my previous
question - does 4 oz of butter = 1/2 cup? Same for sugar?

I mean - it may be 4 oz of biscuits, but that certainly isn't 1/2 cup...
Weight vs Volume...

Cheers and thanks for the replies!


cosmic

[FarmI]

Post by cosmichobo
You mean my nana's secret Hedgehog recipe that's been in the family for
generations?! :)
4 oz butter
4 oz sugar
2 tbl cocoa
1 egg
1 tbl milk
1 pack Marie biscuits

That's an unusual Hedgehog recipe. I've only had it made with Milk
Arrowroot biscuits.

Post by cosmichobo
Looking above, 4oz has a symmetry to it... So back to my previous
question - does 4 oz of butter = 1/2 cup? Same for sugar?
I mean - it may be 4 oz of biscuits, but that certainly isn't 1/2 cup...
Weight vs Volume...

4oz is 4oz so you'd be best to weigh it, but if you can't it is as near as
dammit t half of one of the small blocks of butter.

[cosmichobo]

In article

Post by FarmI
That's an unusual Hedgehog recipe. I've only had it made with Milk
Arrowroot biscuits.

She always made it with Marie... and I know a lot of recipes ask for
coconut and/or nuts... but I am allergic to nuts and hate coconut, so
apparently the story is when I came along, she adjusted the recipe for
me :)

Post by FarmI

Post by cosmichobo
Looking above, 4oz has a symmetry to it... So back to my previous
question - does 4 oz of butter = 1/2 cup? Same for sugar?
I mean - it may be 4 oz of biscuits, but that certainly isn't 1/2 cup...
Weight vs Volume...

4oz is 4oz so you'd be best to weigh it, but if you can't it is as near as
dammit t half of one of the small blocks of butter.

Mmm.... maybe therein lies my problem - going on volume instead of
weight...


I just made it today, using a full pack of Maries, and 4 arrowroots (all
I had in the cupboard, ironically). Still too moist... WAY too moist.
Though again ironically my fiancée loves it... can't stop her eating it.
lol

[cosmichobo]

Well, just to keep all updated... :)

I tried making the recipe again today, this time weighing the
ingredients.

Basically there was no difference in what I'd been using for the butter
and sugar, so I'm definitely putting "blame" on the quantity of biscuits
involved.

The "modern" pack of Arnotts Marie biscuits contained just under 9 oz.

What I've decided is that the recipe must have originally called for 12
oz... which meant adding approx another 9 biscuits.

Given that the main ingredients are all in ounce lots, I think it makes
sense to assume the biscuits should be also in "round ounce" figures,
and 12 seems more likely than 8, as that is less than what I've been
using anyway.

The result... (although I actually stuffed up and used 2 teaspoons
instead of 2 tablespoons of cocoa) was a much more... "right"
consistency mixture.

My father in law is of the believe that Marie biscuits used to be of a
wider diameter than they are now. This would certainly suggest there's
less volume in a pack than before.

Thanks for the help, everyone! Will try it again soon, this time paying
more attention to the tea/table spoon measures! (and also crushing the
biscuits a bit more - was pretty lumpy...)


cheers

cosmic

[AusWendy]

Post by cosmichobo
Well, just to keep all updated... :)
I tried making the recipe again today, this time weighing the
ingredients.
Basically there was no difference in what I'd been using for the butter
and sugar, so I'm definitely putting "blame" on the quantity of biscuits
involved.
The "modern" pack of Arnotts Marie biscuits contained just under 9 oz.
What I've decided is that the recipe must have originally called for 12
oz... which meant adding approx another 9 biscuits.
Given that the main ingredients are all in ounce lots, I think it makes
sense to assume the biscuits should be also in "round ounce" figures,
and 12 seems more likely than 8, as that is less than what I've been
using anyway.
The result... (although I actually stuffed up and used 2 teaspoons
instead of 2 tablespoons of cocoa) was a much more... "right"
consistency mixture.
My father in law is of the believe that Marie biscuits used to be of a
wider diameter than they are now. This would certainly suggest there's
less volume in a pack than before.
Thanks for the help, everyone! Will try it again soon, this time paying
more attention to the tea/table spoon measures! (and also crushing the
biscuits a bit more - was pretty lumpy...)

Good Luck

Aus Wendy

[augie]

Post by cosmichobo
Well, just to keep all updated... :)
I tried making the recipe again today, this time weighing the
ingredients.
Basically there was no difference in what I'd been using for the butter
and sugar, so I'm definitely putting "blame" on the quantity of biscuits
involved.
The "modern" pack of Arnotts Marie biscuits contained just under 9 oz.
What I've decided is that the recipe must have originally called for 12
oz... which meant adding approx another 9 biscuits.

<snip>

Your recent discussion prompted me to make lemon slice on the weekend.
My grandma's recipe called for 3/4 pack of grantita biscuits, mixed with
butter, coconut etc, measured in oz lots. After making the mix, it was
way too 'wet' and I added the rest of the granita biscuits and it was
much better. I would agree there is not as many / as heavy a pack of
Arnotts as there used to be.

[ant]

Post by augie
Your recent discussion prompted me to make lemon slice on the weekend.
My grandma's recipe called for 3/4 pack of grantita biscuits, mixed
with butter, coconut etc, measured in oz lots. After making the mix,
it was way too 'wet' and I added the rest of the granita biscuits and
it was much better. I would agree there is not as many / as heavy a
pack of Arnotts as there used to be.

I'd forgotten about lemon slices... these were so common when I was a kid!

would you please stick teh recipe up?

And I would go bail that all these things, biscuits and mars bars have
definitely shrunk over the years, so they can make bigger profits and spoon
bigger profits to the shareholders.

[augie]

Post by ant

Post by augie
Your recent discussion prompted me to make lemon slice on the weekend.
My grandma's recipe called for 3/4 pack of grantita biscuits, mixed
with butter, coconut etc, measured in oz lots. After making the mix,
it was way too 'wet' and I added the rest of the granita biscuits and
it was much better. I would agree there is not as many / as heavy a
pack of Arnotts as there used to be.

I'd forgotten about lemon slices... these were so common when I was a kid!
would you please stick teh recipe up?
And I would go bail that all these things, biscuits and mars bars have
definitely shrunk over the years, so they can make bigger profits and spoon
bigger profits to the shareholders.

Ingredients

1 tin sweetened condensed milk
1250gm unsalted butter (1 pack).
500gm Granita biscuits (2 packs)
2 cups dessicated coconut
2 lemons, rinds finely grated (reserve juice)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 cups icing sugar (2 packs of pure icing sugar, not the mix as that has
fillers in)
80gm unsalted butter, softened
Juice of the 2 lemons, above
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Method
1. Grease/line 2 3cm deep, 15cm x 25cm tins or 1 30 x 50 tin.
2. Place condensed milk and butter in a saucepan. Cook, stirring over
medium heat for 4 mins or until butter melts.
3. Process biscuits in a food processor, to fine crumbs (or give them a
good old bash with a rollling pin)
4. Combine crumbs, coconut and lemon rind in a bowl. Add butter mixture
and stir until well combined.
5. Place into prepared tin and refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours)
[or bung it in the freezer while you make the icing, which is my way!]
6. To make icing, place icing sugar, butter and lemon juice in a bowl
and beat with a wooden spoon till smooth.
7. Spread over slice and refigerate again till set.
8. Cut into pieces.

This lasts up to a week in a sealed container, but it's usually eaten
before that!

[FarmI]

Post by augie
1250gm unsalted butter (1 pack).

This MUST be a typo. Could you post the correct weight please.

[FarmI]

Post by cosmichobo
Well, just to keep all updated... :)
I tried making the recipe again today, this time weighing the
ingredients.
Basically there was no difference in what I'd been using for the butter
and sugar, so I'm definitely putting "blame" on the quantity of biscuits
involved.
The "modern" pack of Arnotts Marie biscuits contained just under 9 oz.
What I've decided is that the recipe must have originally called for 12
oz... which meant adding approx another 9 biscuits.
Given that the main ingredients are all in ounce lots, I think it makes
sense to assume the biscuits should be also in "round ounce" figures,
and 12 seems more likely than 8, as that is less than what I've been
using anyway.
The result... (although I actually stuffed up and used 2 teaspoons
instead of 2 tablespoons of cocoa) was a much more... "right"
consistency mixture.
My father in law is of the believe that Marie biscuits used to be of a
wider diameter than they are now. This would certainly suggest there's
less volume in a pack than before.
Thanks for the help, everyone! Will try it again soon, this time paying
more attention to the tea/table spoon measures! (and also crushing the
biscuits a bit more - was pretty lumpy...)

And since you got us into thinking about Hedgehog slice, I was in a
supermarket looking at recipes on packs and saw a recipe on something just
the other day. I think it was on a cocoa pack but don't remember now.

["Michael" @hotmail.com>]

Post by cosmichobo
You mean my nana's secret Hedgehog recipe that's been in the family for
generations?! :)

Your secret is safe with me. I'm not a big sweets' fan. :)

Post by cosmichobo
4 oz butter
4 oz sugar
2 tbl cocoa
1 egg
1 tbl milk
1 pack Marie biscuits
Looking above, 4oz has a symmetry to it... So back to my previous
question - does 4 oz of butter = 1/2 cup? Same for sugar?
I mean - it may be 4 oz of biscuits, but that certainly isn't 1/2 cup...
Weight vs Volume...

You need to weigh your ingredients. Sugar, butter and cocoa all have
different densities, so their weight and volume will be different. Normally
you can get away with it; in anything else apart from baking.

I recently bought some digital scales off eBay and they are so much more
convenient than the old dial type. They measure to the nearest gram and
with the push of a button can convert between pounds/ounces and
kilograms/grams. You can also 'zero' the scale with any dish you want to
use, so that means you don't have to tip your ingredients into the specific
scale one each time.

Here's the kind I got if you're interested. Much cheaper than the ones I've
seen in the shops, and no it's not my eBay store. :)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-6kg-1g-Glass-Top-Scale-Postal-Kitchen-Scales_W0QQitemZ190193085306QQihZ009QQcategoryZ50419QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Liz]

Post by cosmichobo
G'day!
I am trying to make a recipe that my grandmother used to make... Thing
is, (as always with these things) it never tastes the same...
I'm wondering if part of the problem is in my quantities...
The recipe calls for 4 oz of butter, and 4 oz of sugar. 4 oz converts
to around 113 grams... but does 113 grams of sugar really equal 4 oz of
sugar? (and same for butter)
(I know that sounds stupid...)
Next... and what I think is my problem...
The recipe needs "1 pack of Marie Biscuits".
Today's Marie biscuits contain around 250 grams - but - is that what
they contained in the 1970's? 1980's?
I know in the early 1990's my grandmother had to adjust the amount "by a
few biscuits"... and I'm guessing Arnotts provide less now than they did
in the 70's... but can anyone confirm the packet sizes back then?
Thanks for any assistance.
cosmic

Couldn't you try contacting Arnotts?

[Phred]

Post by cosmichobo
G'day!
I am trying to make a recipe that my grandmother used to make... Thing
is, (as always with these things) it never tastes the same...
I'm wondering if part of the problem is in my quantities...
The recipe calls for 4 oz of butter, and 4 oz of sugar. 4 oz converts
to around 113 grams... but does 113 grams of sugar really equal 4 oz of
sugar? (and same for butter)

1 oz is 28.35 g (FWIW :)

Post by cosmichobo
(I know that sounds stupid...) Next... and what I think is my problem...
The recipe needs "1 pack of Marie Biscuits".
Today's Marie biscuits contain around 250 grams - but - is that what
they contained in the 1970's? 1980's?
I know in the early 1990's my grandmother had to adjust the amount "by a
few biscuits"... and I'm guessing Arnotts provide less now than they did
in the 70's... but can anyone confirm the packet sizes back then?

Did she have to adjust up or down? My guess is that a standard packet
would be 8 oz back before metrication, but that would be only 227 g,
so she would have had to take one or more out. (How many are there in
a 250 g packet? Come to that, how many is "a few"? :-)



Cheers, Phred.

[Harold]

Post by cosmichobo
G'day!

<snip>

Post by cosmichobo
I know in the early 1990's my grandmother had to adjust the amount "by a
few biscuits"... and I'm guessing Arnotts provide less now than they did
in the 70's... but can anyone confirm the packet sizes back then?

And will they admit to having changed the number of biscuits in the
packet, anyway?
(Let us know the results of your email to them)

Post by cosmichobo
Thanks for any assistance.
cosmic

[OT: Was looking at some VitaBrits breakfast cereal biscuits(?) recently.
They look so much smaller than when I was eating them as a child (a few
decades ago)]

[augie]

Post by Harold
[OT: Was looking at some VitaBrits breakfast cereal biscuits(?) recently.
They look so much smaller than when I was eating them as a child (a few
decades ago)]

I remember when sultana bran was all bran with sultanas in it.
Not that that has anything to do with this thread... :)

[Horry]

Post by augie

Post by Harold
[OT: Was looking at some VitaBrits breakfast cereal biscuits(?) recently.
They look so much smaller than when I was eating them as a child (a few
decades ago)]

I remember when sultana bran was all bran with sultanas in it.
Not that that has anything to do with this thread... :)

What is it now?

[augie]

Post by Horry

Post by augie

Post by Harold
[OT: Was looking at some VitaBrits breakfast cereal biscuits(?) recently.
They look so much smaller than when I was eating them as a child (a few
decades ago)]

I remember when sultana bran was all bran with sultanas in it.
Not that that has anything to do with this thread... :)

What is it now?

Way off topic.

[cosmichobo]

Post by Harold
And will they admit to having changed the number of biscuits in the
packet, anyway?
(Let us know the results of your email to them)

Wow.

The phone rang today.

It was Arnotts!

Sweet middle-aged sounding lady advised me that their archivist had
inspected some brochures from the 1970's, and as best they could tell,
the packet size was the same.

(Though this was not definite, as there was no actual volume/weight
information, just gauging buy size... which I immediately thought was
crap really - how can you tell from a photo whether it's the same...)

I was shocked that they called me! So despite the lack of a real
answer, it was very nice of them to go to that effort.

She said they were impressed by my "lovely letter" [sic].

I'm going to assume that 4 oz is the correct size, and (as per below)
actually weigh the ingredients properly instead of going on volume...

Hopefully that will fix my problem.

Thanks to everyone who's replied. Will let you know how it goes :)

[FarmI]

Post by cosmichobo
Wow.
The phone rang today.
It was Arnotts!
Sweet middle-aged sounding lady advised me that their archivist had
inspected some brochures from the 1970's, and as best they could tell,
the packet size was the same.
(Though this was not definite, as there was no actual volume/weight
information, just gauging buy size... which I immediately thought was
crap really - how can you tell from a photo whether it's the same...)

I wouldn't believe them as to the size being the same. If they had given
you a weight, then they can't change that.

When Arnotts were bought by the Americans, I stopped buying Arnotts for some
time because I was pissed off that an icon went to the Yanks. About a year
later, I started buying them again and I noticed that the biscuits had
shrunk in size. I thought it was just me but my husband also made a comment
on the fact that they were smaller and that some biscuits, like the pillow
biscuits, were thinner with less filling in them than before.

[ant]

Post by FarmI
When Arnotts were bought by the Americans, I stopped buying Arnotts
for some time because I was pissed off that an icon went to the
Yanks. About a year later, I started buying them again and I noticed
that the biscuits had shrunk in size. I thought it was just me but
my husband also made a comment on the fact that they were smaller and
that some biscuits, like the pillow biscuits, were thinner with less
filling in them than before.

Tim Tams have definitely shrunk. And Mint Slices have less mint fondant in
them.

[FarmI]

Post by ant

Post by FarmI
When Arnotts were bought by the Americans, I stopped buying Arnotts
for some time because I was pissed off that an icon went to the
Yanks. About a year later, I started buying them again and I noticed
that the biscuits had shrunk in size. I thought it was just me but
my husband also made a comment on the fact that they were smaller and
that some biscuits, like the pillow biscuits, were thinner with less
filling in them than before.

Tim Tams have definitely shrunk. And Mint Slices have less mint fondant in
them.

Well that is now 3 people who all know that Arnotts biscuits aren't what
they used to be :-))